To me
by far the worst part was Bea Arthur singing... or maybe Lumpy's visions of some disco lady. Both parts sucked utterly.
So did trying to mix Harvey Korman with Star Wars in any way other than making him some jackass of an imperial officer. If they did that, it might've worked, but they attempted no such intelligent satire.
As it is... Harrison Ford tries to not look like the fool he feels like... Mark Hamill was clearly on crack during most of his scenes (
way too enthusiastic), and the makeup he has is terrible even if this was shortly post-car wreck... and Carrie Fisher looks embarassed to be a part of the whole thing, probably the catalyst for mostly quitting acting later on. Peter Mayhew and Anthony Daniels are glad to have jobs and glad no one sees their faces, and Kenny Baker might not've been involved- he isn't credited at any rate.
Then, we've got Chewie's family, who are all sappy and ridiculous. The costumes were surprisingly decent for a production of this kind, but they still weren't selling it with their cheesy plot and lack of any examples but visual ones. Chewie worked because he had a translator handy most of the time (Han or 3PO) to respond to him; 15 minutes of Wookies trying to get ideas across to a viewer by actions doesn't work.
Then there's this variety show crap mixed in that doesn't belong anywhere near Star Wars... Jefferson Starship's least impressive performance ever, Bea Arthur of Maude/the Golden Girls fame
who should never ever try to sing, Harvey Korman of various movies- Blazing Saddles comes to mind- trying to make bad advertising jokes, and that middle-aged guy all the fans of the holiday special like who might've been okay if he didn't make more bad jokes and sales pitches.
Then there's the Empire who's so incompetent it's funny. Vader's one line is so general purpose one expects they got James Earl Jones to drop by and do one line long before they got anything written, the imperial officers all stand around making wry comments, faces, and not paying good attention, and the Stormtroopers fail at the simple art of wrestling/bear hugging skinny smugglers. No wonder Dak thought he could take the whole empire on himself-
he could've if he'd attempted a couple years earlier.
Then there's the cartoon, which I wanted to like, but I have to say that's one of the ugliest art styles I've ever seen! I'm sorry. Also, Boba Fett is completely incompetent; if he hadn't halfway informed the rebels of his plan the moment they showed up and left clues everywhere for them to follow, he might've gotten away with it! The greatest bounty hunter ever; he fails to defeat a critical group of Rebels under Vader's payroll because he screws around, tells them most of his plan, and lets them figure the rest out- then turns and runs when they do rather than, y'know,
shooting them- and then he finds the Falcon, tattles, loiters around Cloud City, runs away when the rebels come after him again, then when he actually has to fight, his gun gets cut in half and a jetpack malfunction launches him to his death/a few years trapped in the Sarlacc before he somehow escapes. Maybe they sent Luke/Leia/Han/Chewie/the droids any combination in after him and it enabled him to run away again.
Sorry
I like Boba Fett, but you have to admit it is a little silly. Also, the cartoon is really pretty enjoyable, and definatly the best material in the Holiday Special by quite a bit.
Also, my negative dialogue on this subject is because I had a ball watching it (even if it was a terrible quality internet download- not that I expect DVDs to be loads better, but mine had a tiny resolution/filesize). It's like, MST3K-worthy.
